Chapter 70: Let's Have a One-on-One Later

36:27!

The first quarter ended with the Suns leading by 9 points.

In the second quarter, Wade Dong remained on the court!

The most frustrating thing for Lakers coach Brown and the players was Wade Dong's stamina. Despite leading by 9 points in the first quarter, Wade Dong still didn't rest.

It seemed like Wade Dong was prepared to play the entire game every time.

"He's not even human."

Brown was so angry he wanted to throw the tactics board, "Can't Wade Dong rest for a bit? He's still young, but playing like this, he's not afraid of getting injured!"

At this time, Kobe and Gasol were not on the court, and Iverson had also gone to rest. Wade Dong returned to the shooting guard position, and in his familiar spot, he became even harder to defend!

Barnes, while defending Wade Dong, kept talking trash, even saying, "You won't be able to get past my defense."

"Haha..."

Wade Dong pointed to Barnes' right side, "I'm going to break through you from here!"

"Huh?!"

Barnes' eyes widened, this was too arrogant!

But after Wade Dong said that, he made a quick change of direction and accelerated, passing Barnes from the right side.

Pull-up jumper!

"Swish!!!"

The ball went cleanly through the net.

"Got past you..."

Wade Dong smiled at Barnes, "Just like crossing an empty street in the morning."

"Ahh!!!"

Barnes clenched his fists and roared in anger!

He was on the verge of exploding, wanting to go and beat up Wade Dong.

But the matter didn't end there. Barnes almost stuck to Wade Dong on defense, but when Wade Dong received the ball, he pointed to a spot beyond the three-point line and said, "See that spot? I'm going to shoot from here and score on you!"

After saying that, Wade Dong took a step back and landed at the spot he mentioned.

Barnes rushed over, and as Wade Dong shot, Barnes collided with him.

"Beep!!!"

The referee's whistle sounded, indicating a defensive foul by Barnes.

"Swish!!!"

The ball went in cleanly.

3+1!

"MVP! MVP! MVP!"

The arena resounded with the fans' unified chant.

Wade Dong stood up from the ground and completely ignored Barnes, only mocking him, "With this level of defense, how did you even make it in the NBA?"

Barnes' foul, in Wade Dong's eyes, seemed non-existent, which was the most painful part for Barnes, because he was being ignored...

After Wade Dong made the free throw, Brown also made a substitution.

Kobe and Gasol returned to the court. They couldn't sit still anymore because the score difference was about to reach 20 points.

If they were down by 20 points at halftime, it would be difficult to come back in the second half.

After Gasol returned, Wade Dong was still playing the shooting guard position, which made Gasol's job in the paint much easier. At least he could score now. In the first quarter, he was held to 7 shots and made only 2, with a shooting percentage of less than 30%.

With the starters back, the Lakers closed the gap a bit.

At halftime, the Lakers were only down by 13 points to the Suns.

...

In the Lakers' locker room.

Although they were behind in the score, Kobe was full of fighting spirit. The stronger the opponent, the stronger Kobe became, and Wade Dong had ignited Kobe's fighting spirit.

Brown said to the players, "Wade Dong playing the power forward position is a good thing for us because his energy is more focused on defense. In the second half, we need to limit Iverson and Nash's performance. As long as we score more than the Suns, we can win this game."

"In the first half, Wade Dong only scored 17 points, and 9 of those were against the bench players."

Brown looked at the first half's game data and glared at Barnes.

This troublemaker, why did he have to provoke Wade Dong? If he hadn't kept talking trash to Wade Dong, maybe Wade Dong would have scored fewer points.

"I will increase my offense in the second half."

Kobe's eyes were determined, "Leave the scoring to me."

"Good!"

The Lakers had won two championships with this lineup, and Brown still had confidence in his players.

In the Suns' locker room, the atmosphere was relatively relaxed.

Wade Dong even told a few jokes to his teammates. From the first half, it was clear that every player on the Suns had performed well.

...

As the second half began, Kobe started scoring frequently.

Apart from Wade Dong, no one on the Suns could stop Kobe!

And Wade Dong was playing the power forward position, so he didn't have many chances to defend Kobe.

Seeing the score difference narrow to just 5 points, Gentry immediately called a timeout.

After the timeout, Dudley replaced Iverson.

Gentry wanted Dudley to use his youthful energy to limit Kobe's performance.

But the effect wasn't very good. Kobe made a three-pointer right in front of Dudley, and when he made the shot, Kobe's eyes looked like they wanted to kill someone.

The score difference was down to just 2 points...

"Wade Dong, you better come up with something quick!"

Gentry shouted from the sidelines.

The Suns' bench: "..."

This shout was very loud, and even the fans sitting courtside heard it. They couldn't help but give Gentry a thumbs up, what a brilliant strategy!

When in trouble, call Wade Dong!

Gentry's strategy might seem mindless, but it was actually very effective...

Wade Dong did not disappoint Gentry.

Three consecutive three-pointers from just outside the three-point line!

76:65!

The score difference was back to 11 points.

Gentry breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down on the bench.

Wade Dong's three three-pointers extinguished the Lakers' comeback fire, and from that point on, Wade Dong took on the offensive responsibility again.

"Beep!!!"

With the referee's final whistle, the game ended!

117:103!

The Suns won at home against the Lakers, taking a 2-1 lead in the series.

Game statistics:

Wade Dong: 37 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks

Kobe: 47 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Iverson: 19 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks

Gasol: 23 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 0 steals, 1 block

Nash: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 13 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Kobe scored 47 points on 29 shots, making 17, the highest score of the game, but it still wasn't enough to stop the unstoppable Suns.

"It's too hard..."

Even Kobe had to admit that this Suns team was very strong!

To defeat this Suns team, they might need a lineup as strong as the one that won three consecutive championships. Back then, the Lakers were also very strong, even achieving a 16-1 record in the playoffs.

The only loss in that run was to the current Suns' Iverson.

In the post-game press conference, Wade Dong, in a good mood, even joked with the reporters, "Scoring is really simple, you just need to throw the ball towards the hoop, and then it goes in..."

"Listening to you, I feel like we could all go out and play."

The reporters laughed along.

Wade Dong smiled, "Why not? After the press conference, we can go to the court and have a one-on-one."